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Thunderbird loses AOL (verizon.net) email folders

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by stanheer43

stanheer43
stanheer43
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I use Thunderbird on 2 Windows 10 laptops to access verizon.net email which is now hosted on mail.aol.com. I rarely use these computers to access my verizon.net email, but my wife uses Thunderbird exclusively to access her verizon.net. (all accounts are imap). Something broke about 2 weeks ago, and now Thunderbird cannot consistently access our verizon.net emails. I have tried everything so far that I have found here: delete and re-add the account, make sure I am using OAuth2, delete stored passwords, uninstall/reinstall Thunderbird. These exercises usually result in Thunderbird gaining access to the email server's folders but only temporarily and sporadically. The problems and error messages are not consistant. Sometimes, only the Inbox will display in the folder list panel. Other times the folders will show, but some are empty and generate an error (not always the same one)when trying to refresh them. I am not sure of all the circumstances, but it seems like, once TB is restarted after successful retrieving things following one of the above "fixes" , the troubles begin. Since this started only recently, and occurs on both of my very different laptops, I have to assume this is the result of a recent update, either TB or Windows 10. I am done with trying to figure this out on my own, so will set my wife up to start using eM Client, which has been working flawlessly on my Windows 10 desktop. I will be monitoring this thread, so if anyone comes up with a idea or solution, I will gladly give it a try.

I use Thunderbird on 2 Windows 10 laptops to access verizon.net email which is now hosted on mail.aol.com. I rarely use these computers to access my verizon.net email, but my wife uses Thunderbird exclusively to access her verizon.net. (all accounts are imap). Something broke about 2 weeks ago, and now Thunderbird cannot consistently access our verizon.net emails. I have tried everything so far that I have found here: delete and re-add the account, make sure I am using OAuth2, delete stored passwords, uninstall/reinstall Thunderbird. These exercises usually result in Thunderbird gaining access to the email server's folders but only temporarily and sporadically. The problems and error messages are not consistant. Sometimes, only the Inbox will display in the folder list panel. Other times the folders will show, but some are empty and generate an error (not always the same one)when trying to refresh them. I am not sure of all the circumstances, but it seems like, once TB is restarted after successful retrieving things following one of the above "fixes" , the troubles begin. Since this started only recently, and occurs on both of my very different laptops, I have to assume this is the result of a recent update, either TB or Windows 10. I am done with trying to figure this out on my own, so will set my wife up to start using eM Client, which has been working flawlessly on my Windows 10 desktop. I will be monitoring this thread, so if anyone comes up with a idea or solution, I will gladly give it a try.

All Replies (2)

Matt
Matt
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  • Top 10 Contributor
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what are some of the artual error messages.

Most intermittent issues usually trace to a third party product. Often an anti virus or security product that is blocking access, scanning and mangling or just not compatible.

I would suggest the following to see if it helps identify a state or product that might be implicated.

  • Restart Thunderbird with add-ons disabled (Thunderbird Safe Mode). On the Help menu, click on "Restart with Add-ons Disabled". If Thunderbird works like normal, there is an Add-on or Theme interfering with normal operations. You will need to re-enable add-ons one at a time until you locate the offender.
  • Restart the operating system in safe mode with Networking. This loads only the very basics needed to start your computer while enabling an Internet connection. Click on your operating system for instructions on how to start in safe mode: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, OSX
If safe mode for the operating system fixes the issue, there's other software in your computer that's causing problems. Possibilities include but not limited to: AV scanning, virus/malware, background downloads such as program updates.
stanheer43
stanheer43 Question owner
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Thanks for the reply. As I sort of implied in my message, I am moving on. I will not be pursuing any debugging efforts going forward. My wife is actually quite happy with how eM Client works (she says its faster), and TB still works fine for my Gmail and Yahoo accounts. Why Yahoo is OK and AOL is not, I believe has something to do with AOL's special handling of the verizon.net migration. FYI The error messages don't stay on screen for long and do not allow copy to clipboard, so I never actually copied anything down. I have only one enabled extension, Mail Merge, that has been there since I don't know when, and one disabled, Bitdefender Tool Bar, which says it is incompatible with TB 78.5.1 The only reason for my original post was informational, in case someone else cares more about this than I do. I will be glad to help out, if anyone is really interested in finding the bug.